Trinity Mirror tells hacking claim lawyer to put up or shut up

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Trinity Mirror is to demand to see details of four civil cases involving allegations of phone-hacking by journalists at the group’s national titles.

The company revealed this morning that it has still not been served with the claims more than two weeks after they were reportedly lodged at the High Court by lawyer Mark Lewis.

It now appears to be taking a 'put up or shut up' approach to the matter.

Last month Lewis, who represents a number of victims in cases against the News of the World, said he was acting for four claimants in cases against Trinity: former England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati, Abbie Gibson, a former nanny for the Beckham family, and Garry Flitcroft, the former captain of Blackburn Rovers football team.

He said the allegations relate to newspapers in the Mirror Group Newspapers stable of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People, he said.

The claims allege breach of confidence and misuse of private information relating to the interception and/or misuse of mobile phone voicemail messages and/or the interception of telephone accounts – it is alleged.

In an interim management statement release this morning the company said: “Following the extensive publicity given to recent claims of alleged wrong doing by Trinity Mirror journalists, the board can confirm that no such claims have yet been served, nor have any particulars of such claims been provided.

“As a result, we are today issuing notices requiring claim forms to be served.”

Two days after the hacking claims first emerged Trinity Mirror chief executive Simon Fox revealed that company lawyers had launched an internal investigation into the allegations.